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In case your memory needs refreshing, Burke said the Leafs didn’t make the playoffs in either of the past two seasons — they haven’t made it since 2004, the longest active absence among their NHL brethren — because he chose not to make it.

Presumably he considered the bothersome frenzy of media coverage and community goodwill that would accompany a post-season run in Toronto — presumably he did a back-of-a-napkin calculation of the millions upon millions in profit the home dates would have raked in for his organization — and swiftly said to himself, “Nah.”

We only rehash those series of statements because, less than six months after they were spoken, they already rank among the Most Memorable Reactions to Forgettable Chapters in Toronto Sports History. They’re right up there with the moment former Raptors GM Rob Babcock called a 33-win season “enjoyable,” and the day ex-Leafs GM Cliff Fletcher uttered the words “draft schmaft” — this after trading away the top pick the New York Islanders turned into a goaltender named Roberto Luongo.

A fan could take his most recent in a line of post-mortems as a reason for optimism. After all, Burke was insisting the Leafs were a late-season move or two away from being a playoff team.

On the other hand, a fan could take Burke’s words as a depressing comment on the state of a once-proud franchise.

The past year’s Stanley Cup winners, the Los Angeles Kings, were the Western Conference’s eighth-place team. The eighth-place team in the East, meanwhile, racked up 92 regular-season points — the same point total accumulated by the Washington Capitals, who only used their senseless post-season squeak-in to orchestrate a rousing first-round ouster of the defending Stanley Cup champions from Boston. Doubters of the powers of the eighth seed might also remember the Edmonton Oilers and their memorable spring of 2006. Despite possessing the worst regular-season record of Western playoff teams, the Oilers defeated Burke’s Anaheim Ducks in the conference final and came within a game of Canada’s first Stanley Cup since 1993.

And yet, given all the evidence of parity — given that the NHL playoffs have become a lottery of sorts, wherein almost anything seems possible for anyone who stays relatively healthy — Burke claims he assessed the Leafs’ chances and decided, “Nah.”

Given all that, one might assume the Leafs would have spent the past six months repairing the huge holes in the roster. And yet Burke, who spoke in April of a need to “retool” the talent, especially at centre and goalie, has done next to nothing of the sort.

Check that. Toronto did acquire James van Riemsdyk, a career winger who the Leafs have said they may try to transform into that long-coveted centreman. Van Riemsdyk, at least, constitutes a necessary beef-up of the forward unit. And certainly the much-speculated trade for Luongo, who would have to approve a move to the centre of the hockey universe, would be a game-changer in goal. James Reimer and Ben Scrivens, after all, carry around enough question marks to make them NHL unknowns. Luongo’s long record suggests he’s a reliable horse. In four of the past five seasons, the Leafs have finished either 29th or 30th in team save percentage. In the past five seasons, Luongo has ranked 12th, 3rd, 18th, 5th and 14th in individual save percentage. He’d be a filler of a massive void, albeit possibly a contractually punitive one.

Assuming Luongo arrives and van Riemsdyk is relatively effective; assuming 2011-12 standouts like Joffrey Lupul and Jake Gardiner can repeat their success; assuming Phil Kessel keeps on scoring and Dion Phaneuf allays concerns about the validity of his captaincy; assuming Randy Carlyle, the hard-driving coach who has previously clashed with Lupul, doesn’t alienate the bulk of the dressing room by the season’s midpoint by trying to turn a roster largely created for a run-and-gun coach named Ron Wilson into a more disciplined defensive unit — assuming all that, not to mention NHL-worthy progress from the cadre of youngsters who’ve been succeeding in the AHL, it’s hard to imagine the Leafs won’t be contenders for a playoff spot.

Indeed, there’s reason to be optimistic in Leafland. Pro sports is designed to be idiot proof, after all, and sometimes the design even works. In the past 10 seasons, all 30 NHL teams have been to the post-season at least once — even the Leafs. It’ll be nine years since the last Toronto-based playoff game come April.

Then again, on questions of playoff worthiness, Burke is clearly the only guy to ask. He’s certainly the only human being on this planet with keen enough powers of observation to separate eighth-place pretenders from Stanley Cup contenders. Leaf fans (and Burke’s Leaf bossmen) are justifiably wondering when he’ll use those rare talents to create a defining moment that doesn’t involve a press conference.

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